AVA Business Guidance On Coronavirus (COVID-19)

AVA Business Guidance: PV has been asked to publish The AVA’s latest newsletter detailing business guidance on Coronavirus. We hope you find it useful and invite other organisations to share their own position regarding the virus and their business status.

‘The AVA is continuously in touch with legislators, government officials and politicians either directly or via our links through Partner Trade Associations. Whilst some of you will already be making your own representations – and it is always sensible to ensure your constituency MP(s) are aware of your specific issues/concerns – we are keen to ensure central messages about the business impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak for vending and the wider food, drink and hospitality sectors are also logged with Government. We would therefore welcome feedback on issues which relate to product & materials availability, staffing issues, cash flow and forward projections and even to the extent of business viability.

AVA Business Guidance: Whilst many of the issues may be common across a range of other sectors, it is important that Government understands the full scale of the impact on our vending businesses. This is not only in relation to the UK impact – but also equipment, parts and product availability across Europe. So please – get in touch and provide us with details of any specific barriers, client requests/demands or business consequences of the current situation.

The Government has today defined the list of “key workers”. Crucially Vending Operators should sit under the heading: Food and other necessary goods – Those involved in the production, processing, distribution, sale and delivery of food.

AVA Business Guidance: TheAVA Business Support Service

Don’t forget – as an AVA member you have access to this AVA / Quest service:

Hints & Tips from AVA members – these are just some of the suggestions & ideas which have been implemented by some of our members recently:

Been asked to stop visiting machines on site for 8 weeks? Of course: we will extend your current contract by 2 months to cover the gap

Fit as many cashless payment devices as you can. At least that way you will still have money coming in.

We can offer out of hours machine filling and service for those still on site.

Often team members can’t be released for training. This may be an ideal opportunity.

In times of reduced cashflow it may be necessary to lay off staff but do try to hold on to as many as you can afford. When times change, taking on completely new staff can be costly in terms of recruiting & training.

Ensure that vending operator contracts specify their current role as ‘Food Delivery Drivers’.

AVA Business Guidance: Have you got any advice you can pass on? Remember – our interest is in keeping the UK vending industry viable and ongoing.

Best practice from the Government offices and other organisations:

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has provided guidance for British people traveling and living overseas here:

The official guidance from the Department of Health and Social Care, and Public Health England, is here:

About the author

Yvonne Reynolds-Young

Planet Vending’s MD and Publisher is Yvonne Reynolds-Young. An island of corporate common sense surrounded by oceans of creative madness, Yvonne is the person to call if your intention is to make something happen. (She controls all the diaries and all the money, FYI). She’s also our Social Media Queen, single-handedly responsible for building PVs presence on LinkedIn, FaceBook and Twitter and thereby driving record volumes of traffic onto the site.

‘Customer service is my responsibility and it’s my job to make sure we’re always ahead of deadlines’ she says. ‘My background in big business means I speak the same language as our corporate clients and understand the particular pressures they face when working in the vending arena.’